If there’s one thing we’re good at, it’s taking a genuine policy crisis and turning into an inane discussion about “optics,” which is what’s happening now with regard to the situation at the southern border. Both Republicans and the media have become obsessed with the question of whether President Obama should go to the border for a photo opportunity, with the accompanying and bizarre assertion that this is “Obama’s Katrina.” In fact, it’s just the opposite. In that case, it was Bush’s failure of competence and his inability to go beyond photo ops that resulted in so much destruction. In this case, the president’s critics are actually demanding a photo op, while refusing to take any immediate practical steps to address the problem.

… One wonders exactly what all these people believe would happen if Obama went to the border. What sort of change would occur? Would he move closer to the Republican perspective on immigration policy? Are they under the impression that if the President had the opportunity to look into the face of a 9-year-old refugee from Honduras, he’d say, “By god, the Republicans are right. This here’s a terror baby! Get out of America, punk! USA! USA!” … If they had a plan for action, but Obama was the one refusing to do anything, maybe then Republicans could reasonably argue that this is his Katrina. But at the moment, it looks more like theirs. the Obama administration has made a request for funds from Congress and is actually trying to address the problem at the border, while Republicans are refusing to do anything at all. Instead, they’re complaining about Obama’s failure to stage a photo op.

Business Insider: Major New Study Says Obamacare Is Working – Even For Republicans

The Affordable Care Act has been successful at achieving some major goals in the first year of its full implementation, according to a new study from The Commonwealth Fund. There are three important findings from the study: The uninsured rate is dropping, most people like their new insurance plans (even Republicans!), and most people are finding it easy to visit a doctor. The study found the uninsured rate in the U.S. declined by one-quarter over the last nine months, which included the law’s first, six-month open-enrollment period in which individuals could sign up for private insurance plans through exchanges established by the law.

From the July-to-September 2013 period to the April-to-June 2014 period, the uninsured rate of people between the ages of 19-64 dropped from 20% to 15%, according to the study. The research found 9.5 million people gained insurance, either through the exchanges or through the law’s expansion of the federal Medicaid program. The decline in uninsured was seen across different age groups and races, though the drop was disproportionately high among the young (-10%) and Latinos (-13%).

The percentage of Californians without health insurance was cut in half in the last nine months during the federal health law’s expansion of coverage, a new survey shows. Nationwide, an estimated 9.5 million adults under the age of 65 gained health insurance between late summer 2013 and last month, according to a survey the Commonwealth Fund released Thursday.

Those gains during the rollout of Obamacare dropped the nation’s rate of uninsured from 20% last year to 15% now. The change was even larger in California with the proportion of uninsured declining from 22% in late summer 2013 to 11% by early June, the survey found. .”… The findings suggest that the Affordable Care Act is beginning to achieve its central goal – reducing the number of Americans who are uninsured and improving access to healthcare,” said Sara Collins, the lead researcher and a vice president at the Commonwealth Fund.

ThinkProgress: The Most Creative Ways That People Are Protesting The Hobby Lobby Ruling

1. Making their own IUDs out of pipe cleaners. Since Hobby Lobby will no longer cover intrauterine devices (IUDs) for their female employees, one satirical video has some tips for workers who may need a new option. “Miss Sandy from Hobby Lobby” — an entirely fictional character — explains how to use pipe cleaners, glue guns, googly eyes, and glitter to create a homemade IUD. The video’s creators specify that all of those craft supplies were actually purchased from Michael’s, one of Hobby Lobby’s direct competitors. Some of the protesters who showed up to rally outside of their local Hobby Lobby stores this past week brought along their own IUDs fashioned out of craft supplies, too.

3. Handing out birth control. Protesters across the country are bringing condoms to Hobby Lobby stores and either handing them out to customers or leaving them on the shelves. Even religious leaders are getting in on the action. In Illinois, a group of clergy handed out condoms in front of a Hobby Lobby to make the point that not all people of faith are opposed to contraception, even though Hobby Lobby supporters claim that the right to drop coverage for birth control is a matter of religious liberty.

And the Emmy goes to…..

****

Veronica Toney: “Between Two Ferns With Zach Galifianakis”: President Barack Obama’s Segment Nominated For An Emmy

The 6 minute 30 second episode of “Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis,” featuring President Barack Obama was nominated for Outstanding Short-Format Live-Action Entertainment Program. Shout out to HeathCare.gov! The episode of the Funny or Die internet parody talk show, which published on March 11, has received 22 million views to date.

Only the executive producers of the segment (Scott Aukerman, Zach Galifianakis, BJ Porter and Mike Farah) were nominated for the award. But if The President had been nominated and won the trophy on August 25, it would have been his third entertainment award. President Obama won Grammy Awards for best spoken word album for 2008′s “The Audacity of Hope” and 2006′s “Dreams from My Father.”

Florida judge ruled the state’s congressional district map invalid Thursday night, saying it violates constitutional provisions that require fair districts and instead favors Republicans. In a scathing opinion, Leon County Circuit Judge Terry P. Lewis ruled in Tallahassee that the Legislature’s Republican political consultants had “made a mockery” of the redistricting process, tainting it with “partisan intent.” Lewis said that the districts, drawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature after the 2010 census, flouted voter-passed constitutional amendments intended to eliminate gerrymandering – that is, often-bizarre and irregular lines that make a district safe for one party or the other.

Gerrymandering “has been criticized as allowing, in effect, the representatives to choose their voters instead of vice versa,” he wrote. Specifically, Lewis found that congressional districts 5 and 10 had been drawn to favor the GOP, and that neighboring districts had been affected as well. Those two districts, and any others affected, will need to be redrawn, he said. “I find the congressional redistricting plan adopted by the Legislature to be constitutionally invalid,” he wrote. The case goes “to the very foundation of our representative democracy.”

SmartyPants: President Obama Plays Tortoise To The Media’s Hare. And We Know Who Wins That One!

I’ve often thought that the best metaphor for the Obama presidency is the fable about the tortoise and the hare. Of course – in the role of the hare is our linkbait-obsessed media that runs from one form of hysteria to another in a constant quest for “Obama’s Katrina,” only to tire almost immediately before the story’s conclusion. The role of the tortoise is played by our President, who is always focused on the long game (“slow and steady wins the race”). As FLOTUS once said: Here’s the thing about my husband: even in the toughest moments, when it seems like all is lost, Barack Obama never loses sight of the end goal.

He never lets himself get distracted by the chatter and the noise, even if it comes from some of his best supporters. He just keeps moving forward. And in those moments when we’re all sweating it, when we’re worried that the bill won’t pass or the negotiation will fall through, Barack always reminds me that we’re playing a long game here. He reminds me that change is slow — it doesn’t happen overnight. As we approach the finish line, we can begin to see who is going to reach the tape first. Here are some recent “long game” headlines:

Tom Kludt: Pundits Collectively Lose It Over A Quote Obama Didn’t Even Say

Many pundits on Thursday were shocked by the gall of President Obama to say that he doesn’t “do photo-ops,” a mere day after glossy, White House-sanctioned shots surfaced of him sipping beer and shooting pool with the Colorado governor. Except he didn’t actually say that, manifold distortions notwithstanding. Here’s what Obama actually said Wednesday night when defending his decision to not visit the U.S.-Mexico border. This isn’t theater. This is a problem.

I’m not interested in photo-ops; I’m interested in solving a problem. And those who say I should visit the border, when you ask them what should we be doing, they’re giving us suggestions that are embodied in legislation that I’ve already sent to Congress. So it’s not as if they’re making suggestions that we’re not listening to. In fact, the suggestions of those who work at the border, who visited the border, are incorporated in legislation that we’re already prepared to sign the minute it hits my desk. “Gotcha,” the critics cried in unison.

House Republicans took the initial step on Thursday to sue President Barack Obama over the administration’s decision to delay the employer mandate of the health care law. The office of Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, released a draft of the resolution that would authorize the House to file suit amid GOP criticism that the president has declined to faithfully execute the laws of the country. “In 2013, the president changed the health care law without a vote of Congress, effectively creating his own law by literally waiving the employer mandate and the penalties for failing to comply with it,” Boehner said in a statement. “That’s not the way our system of government was designed to work. No president should have the power to make laws on his or her own.”

White House press secretary Josh Earnest reiterated that position and linked it to economic initiatives, saying in a statement that “Republican leaders in Congress are playing Washington politics rather than working with the president on behalf of hardworking Americans.” Drew Hammill, a spokesman for Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, said the effort was a waste of taxpayer dollars. “This lawsuit is just another distraction from House Republicans desperate to distract the American people from their own spectacular obstruction and dysfunction,” Hamill said. Boehner’s actions on the lawsuit come as some Republicans are demanding a far more formidable step — impeachment.

They know it’s the opposite, but if they say it out loud it insulates them from any criticism.
No it’s the republicans, no it’s the democrats. And it confuses people like the indes who decide elections.

Which is why PBO is out there letting the GOP have it. The media attempts the both sides do it, but it is getting less and less resonance. And the lawsuit actually helps PBO because it shows that the GOP isn’t serious about trying to work with the President.

I have always felt the Dems would gain seats but not take back the House. Now I am feeling pretty confident that they will take back the House. I have always felt comfortable with their keeping the Senate.

As I tweeted a while ago, looking at the GOP tactics, it is almost as if there is a Dem mole in their organization giving them advice.

Work with the Republicans more, that sounds so stupid. How the heck are you going to work with someone who do not want to work with you, who hate your guts,someone who doesn’t even consider you President.

By the way I don’t recall POTUS saying he doesn’t do photo-ops. There is no need of POTUS going to that border, I think he knows exactly what is going on. What we need is solutions. POTUS, the Republicans and Democrats know what need to be done, the question is will the Republicans do anything. If going to the border would solve anything POTUS would have been there months ago.

I’M SO TIRED of this BS !!!!!!!! I would LOVE to see Joe Biden, prime time tv, tell his story of the republican senators who told him, point blank, that the republican caucus decided to offer NO collaboration, nothing, zip, nada, to the president because that was their “way back to power”.

ENOUGH of the HYPOCRISY !!! ENOUGH of the media protecting those assholes !!!!

The ‘issue’ the GOP ‘lawsuit’ will raise is that yes – it wanted to delay the employer AND individual mandate, so therefore PBO was acting ‘unlawfully’ by picking one and not the other, therefore bystepping Congress.

Of course W. did the same thing with Medicare Part D, as I recall. Adjusting deadlines is ADMINISTRATIVE. Not every effing detail is set in stone by Congress.

That being said, April’s assessment of this lawsuit is excellent: they really don’t want the WH to list every administrative delay or change that has happened under every other administration.

Besides, there’s no legal standing. Although these awful courts could contrive one. But this is a political stunt. Pure and simple.

Morning everyone…just been reading and looking at the beautiful pics:) Nerdy, I think you should include how many times the RWNJ’s voted to REPEAL OBAMACARE USING TAXPAYER $$$ along with that delay Tweet. It boggles the mind.

Seems like the Hill is on a special Obama-trolling mission today….actually, not just the hill, but the media in general. Could it be that they’re pissed off that Pres Obama spoke some undeniable truths in Austin tx yesterday? Could it be that Boehner is right now backed into a corner with the Immigration reform issue AND the ACA employer mandate issue?

Or most importantly, could it be that the 2014 “GOP midterm wave” that the media breathlessly predicted seems to be going up in smoke? I notice that Little Nate has been extra quiet on the congressional polling front these days….

Hope, I think it’s mostly because President Obama never hesitates to condemn the shallowness of the media. Every time he does this, they take their revenge in the following days. I’ve noticed the pattern.

To be totally honest, even if I share his assessment of the media, I’m puzzled as to why he continues to call them out. Maybe he’s confident that the media constant sniping at him won’t affect his chances to get a democratic Congress. President Obama isn’t obsessed with polls, but I’m sure he’s dreaming of a much more collaborative Congress to work with during his last two years in office.

Plus the quote from Malcom X astonishing and brilliant as it was then grows more true every single day.
The unpredictable thing that has evolved—-is evolving on a daily basis—-is the startling drop in the influence of newspapers.

I hope you and Chips post that tweet once a week forever. Or until it truly doesn’t make a difference what the Media is squealing about.

Can someone put together the taxpayers cost for the obstruction that the repukes have promoted and implemented; shut down of government, fake IRS and Benghazi scandals, along with other craziness they have done. I read some where recently, that they are asking for “an additional” $3,000,000.00 dollars to continue with Benghazi.

Numerical figures tends to catch the eye when one speaks of waste. They have wasted money, and yet they are collecting salaries just to be a “DO NOTHING CONGRESS.” Millions are left with no unemployment benefits, and the veterans have been affected. Now, we have a “drummed up lawsuit” that will cost the American people money.

It’s time for the pundits to start telling the American people what this foolishness is costing them. Congress will not work for the remaining of the year but they will collect a paycheck and have all of the benefits that many of us work for daily, and would lose our jobs if we had Congress work ethics.

Someone in MSM needs to compile these figures and keep a running tally on the cost to taxpayers of the “scandalabra” that started last year — remember @mollyesque’s offensive tweet that “next thing you know, they’ll be finding girls in the WH basement” (not exact quote) simultaneously dismissing the missed opportunities that teen girls were deprived of while being held captive in Cleveland and promoting the nonscandals of the time (#Benghazi, #IRS, #AP leak of classified info).

Barbara Boxer placed a $30 million price tag on the non-IRS scandal a couple of weeks ago.

As we watch the horrendous violence in and near Gaza (the highly lethal Israeli airstrikes and the heavy but not very competent rocket attacks from Hamas), along comes research from Gallup that in this country, Muslims and Jews have one important thing in common: they both disproportionately approve of President Obama’s job performance.

Actually, non-Christians agree across all sorts of lines (including the one that separates belief from unbelief) on this subject as measured in 2014 tracking poll averages, with Obama’s approval/disapproval ratio standing at 72/20 among Muslims, 55/41 among Jews, 59/34 among “other non-Christians,” and 54/38 among “No religion/Atheist.”

Wonder what would happen if we told nut n yahoo that we were going to defund Iron Dome because we can’t condone this behavior from him any longer? You can’t lob bombs at your neighbors any longer and not have a dialog with them…and keep building settlements that inflame and divide….this is unsustainable.

When Perry ran to Fox after meeting with President Obama, Hannity was making the suggestion, that the Militias should be heading to the borders.

I can see the outcome before it comes; patrol borders shot dead, mothers and babies killed while fleeing gun fire. They are playing around this dangerous scenario because they are promoting it, just as they promoted Bundy. They know that the nuts are out there who hates government.

They want a blood bath, they want to say; Obama has their blood on his hands because he didn’t go to the borders. These are some crazy SOBs and they are dangerous.

This is the future America, if these “angry repukes; power hungry white men” ever takes the Presidency again. They’re not hiding, they are showing us, America, what it will look like under “their laws.” I just hope we’re paying attention.

I’m one of the lurkers here on TOD though I login daily and I confess this is the one site that kept me sane during the difficult times during and after the 2008 and 2012 elections. I’m de-lurking today just to comment on the border issue and give my two cents worth. On many issues, I agree with most people here on TOD but on this border issue I do not and I hope that is ok. In my opinion the people crossing the border illegally should all be deported back to their countries without exception. Giving them shelter, medical, clothing and today I heard even schooling will only encourage more and more to come. So when we will say enough is enough? Are we prepared for millions more that will surely follow? Why should we add to the national debt to take care of people from other countries, countries that we give enough aid as it is but with corrupt governments? What about the poor people right here in America? How come we have never sought 4B to take care of the inner city kids? There is gun violence and gang problems right here in America, how is that different from violence in Central America? We are only enriching the cartels that charge thousands of dollars to bring these people to our borders. I’m not buying the media narrative that young children as old as 4 or 8 are travelling by themselves from three thousand miles away to reach our borders. How do they know where to go, where to find food, bathroom facilities, etc. No, there is something going on here and we the public are being taken for a ride. There are desperate people all over the world and we cannot take responsibility for everyone one of them. Every immigrant should follow the current laws to enter the country.

If these were white children escaping from Ireland or Bosnia we would welcome them and their families with open arms. These children and parents are running from being gunned down in the street. They are running from death. There is no one in this country that would not do the same. We must have compassion and get these countries they are running from to stem the violence before we send them back to face death.